Fewer federal workers serving a larger population

3:35 PM,
Jan. 2, 2013

Written by

Thomas M. Kelemen-Beatty, Asheville

In response to the recent letter writer who writes "too many federal employees," I want to say: Check the facts and do not repeat Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity nonsense.Numbers from the Office of Personnel Management show in 1960 there were 1.81 million federal employees, 1 percent of the population at that time. In 1970, the numbers were 2.2 million, 1.08 percent of the population; in 1980, they were 2.16 million (0.96 percent); 1990, 2.25 million (0.90 percent); 2000, 1.78 million (0.63 percent); 2009, 2.10 million (0.68 percent); 2010, 2 million (0.64 percent); and in 2012 2.2 million, ...